Core-spinning apparatus



Jan. 31, 1967 J. T. PHILLIPS 3,300,956

CORE-SPINNING APPARATUS Filed July 24, 1964 INVENTOR.

JACK T. PHILLIPS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,300,956 CU'RE-SPINNHNG APPARATUS Jack T. Phillips, Honea Path, 5.0, assignor to Deermg ,Milliken Research Corporation, Spartanbnrg, S.C., a corporat on. of Delaware Filed July 24, 1964, Scr. No. 384,841 7 Claims. (Cl. 5712) This invention relates generally to the spinning of yarn and in particular to the production of asm-ooth elastic yarn by core-spinning a sheath of staple fibers around an elastic core.

As'used herein, the term core-spinning refers to a process of introducing a continuous elastic filament to a spinning or drafting frame together with one or more rovings of staple fibers to produce a composite yarn having'the continuous filaments as a core and the drafted rovings as a sheath. 1 I

In prior art core-spinning frames the drafting rolls and the continuous filament drive rolls are driven from the head end of the spinning frame which makes it very difficult to change the draw change gear which controls the draft of the continuous filament. In prior art corespinning frames a change of the draw change gear resulted in a shut down of the frame for a considerable length of time due to the inaccessibility of the draw change gear resulting in a considerable loss of production time. This loss of production in turn causes a loss of potential profit which could be made if the down time of the corespinning frame is reduced.

It is therefore :an object of the invention to provide a core-spinning frame in which the draw change gear is readily accessible for replacement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a corespinning frame in which the draw change gear and the continuous filament drive rolls are driven from the foot end of the frame.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a core-spinning frame in which the draw change gear is readily accessible and which produces a core-spun yarn with an improved cover.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be clearly apparent as the specification proceeds to describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawing.

FIGURE 1 of the drawing is a schematic representation of the foot end of a core-spinning frame.

Throughout the specification and claims the terms foot end and head end of the core-spinning frame are employed as known in the industry. The foot end of a spinning frame is the end of the frame where the drive motor of the frame is located while the head end of the frame is the end of the frame where the gearing for the frame is normally located.

Looking now to the drawing roving 11 is led from packages 12 through the back pair of drafting rolls 14 via condenser 11 and thence to the front pair of rolls 16. A substantially twist-free, continuous elastic filament 18, such as Lycra passes from the package 20 over :a ceramic ball bearing guide roll 22 to the front drafting rolls 16 where it passes in a stretched condition therethrough with the roving 10. The filament 18 which is illustrated in the drawing can be either a monofilament or a plurality of continuous filaments. From the front drafting rolls 16, the drafted roving and elastic filament 13 travel through a pigtail guide 24 to the traveler of ring twister 26. The operations in spinning are normal except that the tension on filament 13 below the front rolls 16 must be sufficient to retain substantially the same percentage elongation below the rolls as above. This may be accomplished by the use of heavier than normal travelers 28 on ring twister "ice 26. In traveling through ring twister 26, the drafted roving 10 is spun in the normal manner'about filament 18 to produce a core-spun yarn which is wound on'bobbin 39 in the stretched condition.

Lower front'draftin-g rolls 16 are positively driven by a drive means (not shown) located at the foot end of the frame and suitably connected to the lower front roll shaft 32. The front roll shaft 32 has an extension 34 connected thereto to drive the draw change gear 35. Draw change gear 35 drives successively meshing gear 36, shaft 38, sprocket 40, chain 41 and draw change sprocket 42. Draw change sprocket 42 in turn drives the delivery roll shaft 44 connected to the sprocket 42. Delivery roll shaft 44 drives the center delivery roll 46 directly ina clockwise direction. Sprocket 47 connected to delivery roll shaft 44 drives a chain 48 which in turn drives front and back delivery rolls 5t] and 52 through sprockets 54 and delivery roll shafts 56. As indicated front and back delivery rolls 5i and 52 are rotated in the same direction as the center delivery roll 46.

A sprocket 55 is also connected to the delivery roll shaft 44 to drive the worm gear-57 through chain 58, sprocket 6i shaft 62, sprocket 64, chain 66, sprocket 68 and shaft 70 connected to the worm gear 57. Worm gear 57 rotates gear member 61 connected to shaft 63 and cam member 65 to traverse the support member 67 by eocentrically mounted stub shaft 69. Support member 67 traverses very slowly to cause condensers 11 and guide pulleys 22 supported by cantilever support arms 72 to traverse in order to reduce the wear on the drafting rolls to provide more uniform drafting.

It can readily be seen that the amount of drafting done on the elastic continuous filament 18 is a direct function of the speed of the delivery rolls 46, 50 and 52 since the lower front rolls 16 are driven at a constant speed. Therefore, to change the draft of the elastic continuous filament 18 it is only necessary to change the draw change gear 35 in order to change the speed of the delivery rolls 46, 5t and 52. It can also be seen that the changing of the draw change gear will also make a commensurate change in the rate of traverse of the condenser 11 and the guide pulley 22.

In some instances, due to the physical limitations of the gearing system it may be necessary to also change draw change sprocket 42 but such change is readily made since both the draw change gear and draw change sprocket are readily accessible at the foot end of the spinning frame.

The herein disclosed novel core-spinning frame has many obvious advantages and several unobvious advantages. It is obvious that the drafting system has been simplified and that the changing of the draft on the elastic continuous filament is very simple due to the accessibility of the draw change gear and the draw change sprocket. It is also obvious that the tension of the elastic continuous filament is controlled from feed to delivery in the herein described system. I Several advantages obtained which are not obvious from the disclosure are that the resultant corespun yarn has a better cover than prior art yarns and are also easier creeled.

Although I have described in detail the preferred embodiment of my invention I contemplate that many changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of my invention and I desire to be limited only by the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. A core-spinning frame comprising: a foot end and a head end, a drafting system operably associated with said frame, said drafting system including a plurality of pairs of rolls in nip forming engagement, one roll of each said pairs of rolls being mounted on a rotatably mounted shaft, means supplying a strand of fiber to the nip of each of said pair of rolls, a supply of an elastic filamentary material, means rotatably supporting a plurality of delivery rolls on said frame, said supply of elastic filamentary material being mounted on said delivery rolls, means rotating said delivery rolls to supply elastic filamentary material to the nip of each of said pairs of rolls, means rotating said shaft, said means rotating said delivery rolls being interconnected to said shaft on the foot end of said frame, twisting means receiving fiber and elastic filamentary material from said dnafting system to twist and wrap said fiber material around said elastic filamentary material, said shaft having an extension beyond the drafting system toward the foot end of said frame, and said means rotating said delivery rolls includes a draw change gear connected to the extension of said shaft beyond said drafting system.

2. The structure of claim l wherein said drafting system includes a condenser, said fiber being supplied to said pairs of rolls passing through said condenser prior to contacting the nip of said pairs of rolls, and means operably [associated with said draw change gear to traverse said condenser.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein guide members are provided between said supply of elastic filamentary material and said pairs of rolls to guide said elastic filamentary material, said guide member being operably 4 associated with said traversing means to traverse with said condenser.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said guide members are ball bearing ceramic guide rolls.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein guide members are provided between said supply of said elastic filamentary material and said pairs of rolls to guide said elastic filamentary material, and means interconnected to said draw change gear are provided to transversely move said guide members.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said guide members are ball bearing ceramic guide rollers.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein said means to traversely move said ball bearing ceramic guide rollers includes a worm gear.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,168,449 8/1939 Reich 57--97 2,189,938 2/1940 Bussiere 5712 2,880,566 4/1959 Schlums 57l2 FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

W. S. BURDEN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CORE-SPINNING FRAME COMPRISING: A FOOT END AND A HEAD END, A DRAFTING SYSTEM OPERABLY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FRAME, SAID DRAFTING SYSTEM INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF ROLLS IN NIP FORMING ENGAGEMENT, ONE ROLL OF EACH SAID PAIRS OF ROLLS BEING MOUNTED ON A ROTATABLY MOUNTED SHAFT, MEANS SUPPLYING A STRAND OF FIBER TO THE NIP OF EACH OF SAID PAIR OF ROLLS, A SUPPLY OF AN ELASTIC FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, MEANS ROTATABLY SUPPORTING A PLURALITY OF DELIVERY ROLLS ON SAID FRAME, SAID SUPPLY OF ELASTIC FILAMENTARY MATERIAL BEING MOUNTED ON SAID DELIVERY ROLLS, MEANS ROTATING SAID DELIVERY ROLLS TO SUPPLY ELASTIC FILAMENTARY MATERIAL TO THE NIP OF EACH OF SAID PAIRS OF ROLLS, MEANS ROTATING SAID SHAFT, SAID MEANS ROTATING SAID DELIVERY ROLLS BEING INTERCONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT ON THE FOOT END OF SAID FRAME, TWISTING MEANS RECEIVING FIBER AND ELASTIC FILAMENTARY MATERIAL FROM SAID DRAFTING SYSTEM TO TWIST AND WRAP SAID FIBER MATERIAL AROUND SAID ELASTIC FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, SAID SHAFT HAVING AN EXTENSION BEYOND THE DRAFTING SYSTEM TOWARD THE FOOT END OF SAID FRAME, AND SAID MEANS ROTATING SAID DELIVERY ROLLS INCLUDES A DRAW CHANGE GEAR CONNECTED TO THE EXTENSION OF SAID SHAFT BEYOND SAID DRAFTING SYSTEM. 